TOKYO, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan's lower house of parliament on Tuesday approved a trade deal with the United States, paving the way for the deal struck between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump to move to the upper house for deliberations.
Along with its junior coalition ally Komeito, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is hoping that the trade deal will be ratified before the end of the current Diet session on Dec. 9, in line with the U.S. plan for the deal to enter force on Jan. 1 next year.
The deal will see Japan lower its 38.5 percent tariff on U.S. beef to 9 percent gradually and eliminate or reduce tariffs on U.S. pork products.
Under the deal, U.S. products including wheat, wine and cheese will also be granted greater access to the Japanese market.
In turn, the United States will eliminate or reduce tariffs on certain kinds of manufacturing equipment from Japan, as well as those on industrial products, including parts for trains and air conditioners.
The trade deal thus far, regarding the thorny issue of tariffs on Japan's auto sector, has concluded that they are "subject to further negotiations," which has irked the opposition camp who believe that Abe claiming he had secured a win-win deal with the United States was a misguided statement.
This is because, they highlight, the deal has not removed the current 2.5 percent levy on Japanese automobiles, a move that would have been made by Washington under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) before Trump pulled the United States out of the 12-nation free trade agreement.
The opposition camp are also vexed by Washington stating that Tokyo had, under the deal, agreed to buy 2.5 million tons of leftover U.S. corn to use as animal feed, sources close to the matter said.
